


a not unwelcome spectacle

by afrocurl



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Arranged Marriage, Erik is not a Happy Bunny, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2014-11-16
Packaged: 2018-02-25 16:06:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2627816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afrocurl/pseuds/afrocurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik didn't want to have his marriage arranged once he came out at fourteen, but that happened. Only his choices might not turn out to be so horrible, if he only opened up a bit when the time came to meet his potential husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a not unwelcome spectacle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [luninosity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/luninosity/gifts).



> So this started based on Luni's comments about [this photo](http://turtletotem.tumblr.com/post/101389843336/luninosity-turtletotem-luninosity), and I did my best not to play with what TurtleTotem has already with the same premise.
> 
> But really, Luni said this to me in a chat while we were discussing the photo and it came from there: 'wtf no I don't have time to get married I don't care if we were betrothed at birth that's stupid and ancient and--oh hey cute and smart and sparks when we talk...'

The unveiling of all the potential candidates had turned into a spectacle. A spectacle with only five members, but it was put together with all the pomp and circumstance of one of Erik’s prized pre-screenings of the latest films.

The Queen Regent had ordered all of Erik’s favorites foods - popcorn, red vines, more than enough peanut M&Ms - and instead of the filled theatre, it was simply he, the Queen Regent, Emma, Janos and his mother’s personal secretary and advisor Margaret. The five of them were more than enough.

Erik hated that he had told his mother he thought he liked boys more than girls. Because this was what it meant: a first vetting of potential spouses for later. Even though he wasn’t going to have an heir, Genosha still demanded that he marry someone of royal lineage.

“So shall we begin?” his mother asked, sitting next to him with a bowl of popcorn at her right and a glass of wine to her left.

“If we have to,” was all Erik replied.

“Better we start now than let you run wild in college,” Emma said. “I know you now and I don’t want to see you legally drinking.”

“We already know about the drinking he’s done, Emma. That was taken into consideration when we compiled this list.” Commander Carter was a woman who had shaped much of his father’s military campaigns and had been a great comfort to his mother after his death. He didn’t want to know how she knew about their drinking already, but he gave Janos a quick glance. His bodyguard was always too quiet for Janos’ own good. Too bad his tornados were rather useful in protecting Erik.

“Most of these are from Europe, but we can expand the search if you’re not happy with the choices,” Commander Carter said.

“Do we even know if any of them are gay? Did you ask that?” Erik’s tone was insolent, annoyed that this had to happen in the first place.

“That’s why we’re going to reevaluate the list in another four years when you’re eighteen and again when you’re twenty-five,” his mother said.

Sighing was all Erik could do. The slideshow started.

The first boy was red - devilishly so - and Russian. Prince Azazel had a wicked grin, and he didn’t look like someone Erik would want to live with for the rest of his life.

Logan Howlett, some lowly Viscount who moved to Canada, looked far too old. “Eww, gross. He’s a beast,” Erik said just as he felt Emma’s agreement with his words. 

“He’s got a metal skeleton, however,” he mother added. 

Emma hummed, as she reconsidered her opinion, because she knew Erik loved his powers. 

“Let’s put him as a maybe,” he said, if only so he could hurry this along.

The slideshow continued. It was much the same, boys and men from all over the world, and as the final one appeared, Erik was ready to give up on this entirely.

“This is Prince Charles of Westchester, a telepath. He’s officially the first in line for his country’s throne, but his sister is younger than he and a sharp girl. His family is already planning for him to abdicate if he were to ascend to the throne,” his mother said.

The boy - for he looked so much younger than Erik was - was slight of build, but his eyes sparkled and his smile was a slight one that revealed that he could - and would - reveal more if prompted. Maybe it was that this Charles was a telepath because he had thankfully no problem with Emma as his friend. Emma had something like Charles’ smile when she was planning something devious. He liked that idea for his consort.

“He stays,” Erik said before he dug a hand into his popcorn as a reward for his time and effort. He had at least conditionally approved seven of the twelve candidates. Now they only had to wait four years.

-

“You’re about to go to college so let’s at least look at these again before you’re lost to being an idiot.” His mother voice was cool, as it always was, but Erik could tell that she meant well.

Peggy was next to his mother still, looking at her paperwork, pretending not to hear what was being said.

Emma thankfully had already left for college, but she had already told Erik her thoughts.

_Prince Charles has that look still._

He really hated Emma for that. Janos, as always, still said nothing. He only looked imposing and aloof.

“Fine, let’s get it over with. I still have packing to do.”

Peggy started first. “Of all the seven you had still on your list from a few years ago, we can ignore a few of them. They don’t go your way, if you know what I mean.”

Erik did, and thanked any deity he could that the list was shorter.

“It’s only four names now. Prince Charles, Viscount Howlett, Prince Azazel,” his mother said.

“I didn’t like Azazel before,” he interjected.

“Yes, we know dear, but he’s come out and a few others aren’t, so Peggy and I put him back in.”

“Still don’t like him.” Erik didn’t need to see what had happened to this man in four years to know he didn’t want to be around it.

“Then let’s get started and we can look again in seven years,” Peggy added before she pressed a button on her phone and the slideshow started.

As he thought, Prince Azazel still looked intimidating and not at all personable. In fact he now had a rather prominent scar across his face.

Howlett, however, looked the same. “How can he not age but still look older than me?” Erik asked.

“Healing factor so he does live forever,” Peggy replied.

That was a no. He didn’t want to put Genosha in some stranger’s hands because the man couldn’t die. “That’s not going to go over well with the people,” was what Erik said aloud to avoid giving away too much.

The other man was someone Erik couldn’t even remember the name of, he was that boring and banal. 

But then came Prince Charles and Erik was again struck but how he did like the look of his face. Charles had lost some of the fullness to his cheeks, but his eyes and smile still stole the show.

“Prince Charles and Viscount Howlett, if I had to choose two.”

“Perfect,” his mother and Peggy said in unison.

-

For one of the only times that Erik could remember, Janos spoke on a cold evening when he was finishing up his last paper for the semester.

“You’re needed back at home, Sir.”

“What for?”

“Your mother has died.”

Erik’s paper stared back at him from the screen, blinking cursor trying to will Erik to tears.

-

His coronation was five days after he graduated from college, nearly six months after his mother died.

At twenty-two, he was one of the youngest Kings in Genosha, and every day that he was forced to sit and discuss the country’s affairs, he missed his parents.

Peggy stayed on as his advisor - steering him in the right direction - and being the ear to all his concerns. He was not unfamiliar with what needed to be done, but he wasn’t sure of himself, despite all the training he had before.

“Do you want me to invite your suitors out to see you now?” she asked him one night after a state dinner.

He stared at her blankly, but said, “No, I want to rule and I can’t rule if I’m trying to figure out someone’s character. Twenty-five is fine.”

Conversation over, Erik fell back to thinking about the way that dinner had gone and what needed to be done to help his country’s cause.

-

Erik pushed himself to be the King his country needed - and deserved. At his side, Peggy and Janos were always there while Emma floated in and out of the country as she navigated her family’s modest holdings and cultivating a business savvy.

There was no time for him to think about anything that wasn’t for his country’s benefit. He poured over treaties and histories - more than he had before - and did everything he could for his singular purpose.

“Your twenty-fifth birthday is next week, when shall we send invitations to your guests?” Peggy asked at the start of one day’s business.

“Next never sounds good.”

“That’s not possible, Erik. You’re running yourself ragged right now. There’s being a good ruler and being only a ruler. They need to come here so that you can have a life. A life you haven’t had since your mother died.”

“Because there’s a country to worry about.”

“They - your people - worry about you. There are always surveys about your life and those numbers haven’t been good lately. You’re too focused.”

“Why am I only hearing about this now?” His ire was raised now, and he couldn’t believe that the woman who was leading him through his work had held back.

“Your mother never wanted you to know the figures when you were younger. I simply kept up with that idea.”

“Get out!” he yelled and pushed himself back from his desk.

-

Erik looked at the outfit that Janos had prepared, confused. It wasn’t the usual navy suit for meetings, but something less formal: a pair of khakis and one of his many shirts. No tie, no jacket. 

“What’s this for, Janos?” Erik was well aware that Janos wasn’t really meant to be a valet, but as he’d grown, Janos had morphed into one as well as being his bodyguard.

“Ms. Carter has cleared your calendar for two guests today.”

“Has she?”

Janos nodded and left the room.

Erik had only his thoughts and his memories of two faces to keep him company, because that was the only thing Peggy could have done. He finally had to face the reality of what had been in the works since he was fourteen.

-

He stormed into the gardens, as Janos’ note has said he should do, and stared at two men. Logan Howlett was still as gruff and burly as he had been over the years, only now the man sported a cigar that he puffed at his leisure. Prince Charles Xavier stood as Howlett’s opposite: polite, posed but not intimidating.

Charles was far more attractive than any of his previous photos had ever been: the blue of his eyes dazzling and the his lips unnaturally red and now he sported a very serious and impressive beard that made him look older than he had before. He wore a simple blue shirt and jeans - more casual than Erik - but he still had something hidden below the surface that Erik wanted to uncover. His smile was more devious in person, however. It was now less a coy look that hinted at something soft underneath and more a promise of something well thought out and highly organized.

“Gentlemen, thank you for coming, but I’m sorry for the trip.”

Howlett grunted something, but Charles spoke. “Oh, really?”

“Yes. My advisor has my intentions in the wrong place today. I have other business to attend.”

Instead of watching each man say a polite farewell, there was a faint and telltale sign of a telepath’s touch to Erik’s mind.

_I think you’re avoiding this, and I don’t mind if you are, but I’m rather interested in the presentation your team has in mind._

Erik hummed, and let his mind think about what Prince Charles had said and what Prince Charles represented. Rarely did anyone defy what he said - ignoring Peggy and her decision to hoist this meeting - but it reminded him of all those challenging debates and conversation he had had at college. Of the times when he was less burdened and less constricted. 

_Do you think Howlett will notice if we walk around?_ Erik asked, hoping that his technique hadn’t faded without Emma constantly around.

_He’s not at all interested in marrying a man who could control his body._

_Good. Tell me a bit about yourself. I’m afraid my last briefing was just before I left for college._

-

He all but collapsed into his bed that night, half drunk on Charles’ choices in topics to discuss from and half from the wine that they had over dinner.

Charles had retired to his rooms and also retreated from Erik’s mind as he did. It was clear now that Erik missed the mental presence, but just as soon as he was longing for it again, a different mental signature enveloped him.

_Oh that Charles is a keeper._

_Don’t you have anything better to do than look in on me, Emma?_

_Not when it’s clear you’re finally getting your head out of your ruling ass. Let me just tell Peggy._

_Don’t you dare! I don’t need more of her handiwork in this._

_So you’re taking him seriously?_

Erik considered before he said, _I am._

Emma said nothing else, but left him alone to his thoughts on Charles.

They were not the same ones he imagined he would have had at the start of the day.

He wouldn’t tell anyone else that.

-

On a cool and serene Friday afternoon, Erik’s life was no longer his own. In front of far too many people in Genosha’s largest synagogue, he and Charles were married.

The glass under his foot and his quiet vows to Charles and the rabbi were all that Erik wanted to remember. Well, maybe he wanted to remember their first official kiss as a married couple.

That wasn’t so bad.

-

“You know, it’s a mitzvah to have sex during Shabbat,” Erik whispered to Charles when they finally left the reception. 

“I did know that,” Charles replied, his hands eager to reach for Erik’s body, pulling him into a kiss that was as dangerous as Charles’ smile had been years before. “I think I’d like to see how good a deed it can be,” Charles added before he pushed farther into Erik’s space, rolling his hips as he did.

“I was right about you having plans behind that smile,” was all Erik could say before Charles kissed him again, this one slow but no less punishing.

-

Before Erik opened his eyes to the day, he felt Charles’ hands wrapped around his waist and Charles’ erection between his thighs. He didn’t mind that at all, not in the least. It had been too long since he had time to relax like this, to enjoy the pull of another body against his.

He might have to thank Peggy for her insistence at meeting Charles and Logan.

 _Oh stop thinking about your advisor, dear,_ was Charles’ sleepy mental reply.

“Oh, is that how you’re going to be,” Erik said as he tried to wake himself up more fully. 

“It’ll be what we make it.”

“So you do have plans?” Erik asked as he turned over, curiosity getting the better of him. Charles hadn’t said anything in reply to his last statement, but it was something he had meant to ask all along during their courtship, even if he hadn’t found the time.

“I thought that was obvious. Marrying you kept me from formally abdicating, though I won’t have to rule Westchester because of Raven.”

“Is that the only reason you married me?”

Charles scoffed before he said anything. “No, not at all. You aren’t hard on the eyes, and I appreciate what you’ve done in Genosha since your mother passed. I want to have a hand in your work as well as my own.”

Erik hummed his appreciation for what Charles said before he pressed into Charles’ space and kissed him. 

He pulled away a moment later. “You’ll have more than your fair share of work to do.” To prove his point, Erik let his hand drift down to Charles’ prick and started to tease it back into full hardness.

“I don’t think I’ll be working right now, though. Will I?” Charles’ voice was lower now, hints of what he wanted evident.

“Only as much as you want to. I don’t want to wear you out so soon,” Erik replied before he pushed himself down toward Charles’ erection and started to suck it.

“I think we’ll wear each other out first then.”

Erik mentally agreed as he kept up his work on Charles’ body. They had nothing to do today and he planned on taking full advantage of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Di and Kage for the beta help. Any mistakes at this point are my own.


End file.
